The Understanding of Belonging
by KitElizaKing
Summary: After the Fourth Shinobi War Kakashi and Naruto have become lovers but have never truly made love. A promise made to Naruto to bring him home safely from a mission ends with that first time. Lightly comedic, a little drama, some basic plot, but a lot of loving between two men eager to be with each other. Kakashi x Naruto. KAKA/NARU Yaoi


**This story has been rattling around in my head and on my hard drive for longer than I can tell you. I finally got around to putting it down so I could share it with you. This is my first solo story, so I hope you like it. I've got to say, that shower scene was the first thing that came to me, and everything else grew around it…I just couldn't get it off of my mind. LOL**

**Thanks to my beta, Aozoran, for her inspirational editing and her friendship. Read her stories, too…she writes KKM and Transformers…and she's great.**

**Needless to say I don't own 'Naruto'. Sasuke would have had his miserable ass kicked years ago and the UST between Kakashi and Naruto would not be ignored the way that it's being ignored now.**

**THE UNDERSTANDING OF BELONGING**

The sun was fat and brilliantly round in the mid-afternoon sky as Kakashi slouched his way towards the re-built Hokage tower. The heat of the summer's day lay heavy over the rebuilding village and its inhabitants, slowing everyone down, not just the famously lazy Copy-Nin. In the air, the rising, throbbing whine of the cicadas vied with the sounds of hammers and saws as to which would be louder in his sensitive ears as he ambled towards the newly-plastered structure. Kakashi sighed. He was several hours late for his meeting with his leader, but that was nothing new given the predictable tardiness that was a part of his reputation. Truth be told, he was honestly sure that by now everyone worked around the assumption he would always be late, and he figured if he ever showed up on time he'd throw everyone's scheduling out of whack.

Kakashi chuckled inwardly. _M__aybe he should check that theory out some time, just to see what would happen._

Moving upwards, the stairs beneath his feet rose steadily away from him, disappearing around the curve of the tower's side towards the main entrance, and Kakashi climbed them leisurely, still seeing no need to rush. He was half-tempted, as he went ever higher, to pull out his favourite little orange book and bury his nose in its pages as a further sign of his insouciant attitude-not that his attitude's unmatched reputation needed any more reinforcement-but, if Kakashi were to be honest with himself, he really wasn't feeling the need for it today.

_Nothing in that little book was as good as what he had now. Nothing was as good as the beautiful young man that filled his heart, and warmed his bed night after glorious night._

He hadn't felt the need to pull that particular piece of literature out of his weapons pouch in a good seven weeks, not since his blond, with eyes like late-autumn skies, had pulled him close and kissed him senseless. Had whispered words of want and love that had made him shiver with their intent. Naruto could kiss for Kami's sake, making his head spin with pleasure at the feeling of those full lips on his, _and that had been before he'd even pulled his mask down._

The book, Jiraiya-sama's finest romantic epic, was just a customary weight against his thigh now, but he figured he'd leave it where it was. There'd be times when he couldn't be with his lover, and it only seemed right that he should have something stashed away for those hopefully rare days they'd be away from each other.

Oh, and it was also a very useful distraction, for when he really wanted to piss off the people around him. With a hidden, anticipatory grin, Kakashi reached down and pulled the lovingly-worn orange book from his pouch and thumbed it open to his favourite place.

_Like now._

Breezing past Shizune's desk in the anteroom, he tipped her a somewhat slack two-fingered hello, but dispensed with his usual 'yo', knowing in advance that the black-haired woman could care less whether he greeted her properly or not. Shizune was one of the few women the jounin could name that had never fallen under the spell of his 'mysterious air', and the Hokage's aide was the one person that could be counted on to seriously ream him out whenever he did something untoward, like being several hours late for his meeting with her boss. Today she seemed content to glare at him from behind her desk, her razor-sharp, midnight eyes peeling his skin from him in slow, painful stripes as she raked him over with her gaze. Kakashi couldn't repress the shiver that ran through him as he considered what she was thinking about doing to him for keeping Tsunade waiting.

_Aaa,_ he thought, turning away from the scary sight of that face grimacing after him, _that's not good, not good at all._

And so, of course, he buried his nose further into his book and mentally prepared himself for the next course of his punishment at a woman's hands.

"Hmm, brat." The greeting was surprisingly calm and collected, not at all what Kakashi had been expecting, given his past experiences with the blonde terror.

"Hokage-sama." He returned respectfully, his eye never leaving the columns of printed kanji before him.

"What's this I hear about you and…"

"Oh," Kakashi interrupted. "Is that what I'm here to talk about? I thought it was about a mission." He prided himself on the calm assuredness of his own voice. This was a very sensitive subject with the Godaime, he knew.

"Shut up, brat." Tsunade glared at the silver-haired shinobi in front of her. Trying to get anything out of Kakashi Hatake was like trying to get one of her slug summons to dance the cha-cha-_nigh on impossible_. But this topic involved the happiness of her little blond gaki, and she was determined that she wasn't going to let the stubbornly silent jounin get away with his usual reticence.

"You," She said, emphasizing the single, forceful syllable with a good dose of sannin-powered killing intent, "are dating my little Naruto…"

"Maa, Tsunade-sama," Came the immediate, drawling reply, the single grey eye not bothering to look up from that damnable orange book. "He's not so little anymore."

"_Shut up!"_ Tsunade roared, resisting the urge to punch through yet another of her desks as she surged to her feet and loomed menacingly towards Kakashi. Both of her hands were clenched white with anger now, and she pressed her knuckles down hard on the top of said innocent desk, the slight trembling of her forearms the only clue as to how close she was to turning yet another piece of furniture into kindling. The glare in those dark honey eyes had slid a few notches further towards outright rage, and Kakashi didn't need to look up to feel the weight of his Hokage's fury as she stared at him.

_Perhaps I have pushed her far enough._ He mused to himself, his eye never leaving the middle of the left-hand page, even though he wasn't actually reading what lay in front of his nose. He shuffled then, the change in the position of his feet, the shifting of his weight from his left foot to his right, a signal to his leader that he was attentively listening to her now. It was also an apology of sorts, one that only long-time acquaintances of the Copy-Nin would be able to read, and Kakashi could already feel the lowering of the KI in the office as Tsunade accurately interpreted his movements.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her fingers uncurled, colour returning to her fingers from the stark white of a moment before as they eased out to lay flat on the desk, the oval, red-painted nails gleaming in the low afternoon light that came through the windows at the Hokage's back.

Tsunade allowed herself the luxury of a deep sigh. _Hatake hadn't been named an Elite Jounin of Konoha by her predecessors without reason._ She reminded herself. _He's good man, as infuriating as Hell, but a good man, and I know he loves…._

"Do you love him?" She asked abruptly, and then flushed, as a mental image of, well, _that…._shot into her brain.

Kakashi startled, and he could feel an answering red blush creeping up his cheeks under his mask His head shot up, his eye seeking out and holding the gaze of the blonde-haired woman in front of him. And, for a moment his befuddled brain shot off in all directions trying to come up with a response that would preserve his privacy and Naruto's but what came out of his mouth was, instead, the simple, honest truth:

"Yes…" He said, the same unconscious instinct for self-preservation that served him on the battlefield moving him to speak just three words… "I do."

The Hokage let her shoulders relax. There was no doubting the sincerity in her jounin's voice. No missing the honest, open adoration that had come out of Kakashi's mouth with the hoarse declaration of _I do. _And the look in that singular, grey eye…Tsunade felt something inside of her heart unclench, just as her fists had, andshe let herself collapse backwards into her chair. Inhaling deeply, she released a sigh of relieved acknowledgment.

"He's easily hurt, y'know." She started, wanting to at least get some big-sisterly words of advice (and warning) to her little otouto's new _uh…lover?!_, before she let Kakashi off of the metaphorical hook she currently had him wriggling on. "Much more so than he lets on…"

"I know." Kakashi replied. "I love him."

"After that bastard-Uchiha I didn't think he'd ever…"

"I know…" The quiet insistence…"I love him…"

"Do YOU know?!" The Hokage shot him a hard look, her eyes like burnished gold drilling straight into his. There was so much she was saying to him with that sharp look, like she was stabbing straight down into Kakashi's heart trying to see…

To _see…_

"I know." Was the still quiet, confident reply. And in fact, he did know. Naruto had told him all about it on their second date. Not that it had been anything he hadn't known before, but to hear about it from Naruto himself-to be trusted with the actual knowledge, and with all of the powerful emotions that lay behind the relationship between the traitorous black-haired bastard and his beautiful Naruto-that had been a present of trust more significant than anything Kakashi had ever received in his life before. To know that Naruto had put his first love behind him because he had discovered a new love with his old sensei-with Kakashi himself-when Kakashi had long admired and loved his former sensei's son, was a gift beyond measurement of worth.

It was precious to him. _Naruto was precious to him, and so was the irrepressible love growing between them._

"I know." Kakashi said again, the utter confidence, the complete surety of his tone made her understand everything she needed to know about how the silver-haired man in front of her felt about her otouto.

"You love him."

And that was all she said to him. For the next several minutes she scoured him with her gaze, raking her discerning eyes up and down the lanky jounin, taking in the focused, attentive set of his body, reading, with the years of experience she possessed as a sannin of some repute on the battlefield, the readiness with which he was holding himself. Tsunade smiled. Nodded. Sensed the immediate ease of the man in front of her. He had convinced her.

Blessing given, Tsunade flicked the fingers of her right hand at Kakashi, dismissing him. Expecting the usual exit out the window, yet another of the Copy-Nin's trademark habits, she was taken aback when he turned on his heel with the almost-feline grace that was second nature to him and made his way out using her office door. She snorted her amazement. _Apparently wonders _would_ never cease!_ She thought to herself as she watched the door close hard on his heels. _Maybe my little gaki is being a good influence on him after all._

And then, as the absolute hilarity of that thought hit her, she laughed aloud, letting the delicious peals of laughter fill her office at the idea that that lovable, loud-mouthed brat could ever teach that other lazy, perverted brat anything.

_I love you Kakashi-sensei._

_What? Naruto…I…don't understand…._

Standing in front of the Hokage's desk, hoping to hell that Tsunade wasn't going to beat the snot out of him for daring to fall in love with the man she considered to be her little brother, had been one of the most nerve-wracking moments of Kakashi's life. It wasn't the fact that she could reduce him to a bloody pulp that unsettled him, it was the knowledge that he wanted-no, _needed_-her approval of the relationship he shared with Naruto. Besides Iruka Umino, Tsunade was the closest thing to family that Naruto possessed. The late, lamented Toad Sage, Jiraiya, had been his godfather, but she was just as close, and had taken up her responsibilities as substitute godmother/big sister with fierce determination. Kakashi wasn't sure he would have been able to go ahead with a relationship with his beautiful blond if the Hokage hadn't given her approval. She certainly would have made his life a living hell if she'd disapproved. There was no end to the misery she could have put him through if he'd pursued Naruto without her permission, and he quailed inside at the thought of it. No end.

_And yet…_ he mused. _I doubt I would be able to stay away from Naruto now that I know how truly beautiful he is. Even if she'd denied us…_ He smiled under his mask, his one exposed eye curving up into a distinguishable sign of his happiness. _So sappy, Hatake._ He laughed at himself. Being this happy wasn't something he was used to, but he found himself getting more and more used to it every day. Everything about that obnoxiously bratty, utterly stubborn young man made him happy, even the things that annoyed the crap out of him. He snorted aloud, startling one nearby chuunin so badly both his feet left the floor as he jolted in reaction. He caught the kid's amazed look out of the corner of his eye as he passed, waving an indolent hand in a half-assed apology, and knew that before day's end that kid would have the news of his encounter with the 'famous' Copy-Nin all over Konoha. No doubt with an ever-evolving version of how he'd helped Kakashi Hatake with some dangerous mission or some such thing.

_And so the reputation will grow._

Kakashi didn't care, really. Whatever people made of him hadn't really mattered since his father's death those oh, so many years ago. Not that he didn't make very good use of his reputation. There was nothing like being a lazy, perverted jounin that wandered around all day with his nose buried in porn. It made people forget about his other reputation-the one where he knew one thousand jutsus. Funny how that worked out, wasn't it?

A short, sarcastic 'hah' did escape him then. Fortunately though, there was no one around to startle, the hallway he was slouching his way down was quite empty of people, and the sharp exhalation echoed hollowly from the newly painted walls. Kakashi wasn't quite sure where he was, he'd gone two floors down, following the whisper of chakra that had brushed against him ten minutes ago in Tsunade's office. It'd been delicious, that touch of familiar energy, like a warm finger stroking up his spine. And if he'd heard his Hokage's amazed exclamation at his uncharacteristic form of egress, he'd ignored it for the greater goal he was now focused on. Naruto was somewhere in the building, calling for him. Naruto, who wasn't supposed to be back from his mission for another three days. _Perhaps it was the promise I made him before he left._ Kakashi mused, a wicked smile curving across his mouth underneath the mask. _He was really enthused about it_. That brought a hoarse chuckle from deep inside the jounin's throat.

_Naughty boy…_

He should have known Naruto would take to the physical aspect of their relationship the way he'd always taken to learning new things: With every bit of strength and determination the younger man possessed. Kakashi had been gentle and considerate when drawing his golden-skinned love into bed with him the first time. He'd shown him the pleasure of mouth and hands, and the eagerness of the response had both shocked and pleased the jounin. In retrospect, perhaps it shouldn't have surprised him at all, but the utter air of innocence that Naruto wore like a Kami-given robe had lulled him back into sensei-mode and he'd been utterly astonished the first time Naruto had done anything even slightly, well, _horny. _And the dedication with which the blue-eyed teen had tackled learning how to do those delicious things back to Kakashi had completely impressed him.

_How was it even possible to love someone more than you already did when you felt like your heart was so full with him it was going to burst?_

And yet Kakashi had.

So now, as he sauntered towards an assignation with his ever-surprising love, he grinned at his good fortune for being the one Naruto chose, and for being smart enough to say 'yes'.

_ Why me, Naruto? I'm your sensei, and I'm too old for you._

_ You love me, don't you? Don't you?_

_ Yes, Naruto, for a long time now._

_ What's the problem then?_

Another floor down, Kakashi wandered the unfamiliar halls of the new tower. He'd known the layout of the previous tower like the inside of his own eyelids. Years as an ANBU, and the few years as the Yondaime's personal guard had given him unparalleled access to the red-painted, multi-level building. So much so, he'd have been able to navigate it blind, if necessary. But this new tower, like all of the other buildings restored since Pein's explosive tantrum, was going to take some exploring before he felt as fully at home in it as he once had in its predecessor. Right now he was steering himself only by the feel of Naruto's warm chakra stroking at his skin, sliding softly over him like an intimate caress. A remarkable feat of achievement for a young man that the silver-haired jounin had ever despaired of teaching any kind of chakra control to.

_Of course, being able to communicate with the Kyuubi, being able to work with it in harmony, would have helped tremendously with that problem._ Kakashi mused, his mind occupied with thoughts of Naruto and the few years that had passed since Pein's attack on Konoha. He'd missed that kid when he'd left to train with Killer Bee. Missed him so much it'd led to a much unwelcome realization—one that came from the very heart of him. Waking up in the night, panting harshly, body strung taut with sexual need focused around a certain someone with sunlit hair and sky eyes, hadn't been Kakashi's ideal _ah-hah_ moment, but it had brought his emotions to centre stage, so he could begin to deal with the fact that he had strong, deep feelings for his former student.

_Sunny, warm, giving Naruto._ Kakashi smiled under his mask, shivering slightly at the phantom sensation of fingertips gliding down his right arm and weaving themselves between his own slim digits, even though both hands were shoved firmly into his pants pockets . It was Naruto's clever way of clueing him in as to which way to turn at the fork in the hallway in front of him.

_Give in to me, sensei…_

_ Naruto-we can't…_

_ Kiss me, sensei, pleease…._

_ ….Kami, Naruto… yeesss…_

Naruto settled his back against the closed office door. He could feel Kakashi's warm, white chakra coming nearer and nearer to him, and the thought of the man it was shimmering in made him smile. He'd pushed himself so hard to get back to his lover early. Probably broken at least a few dozen mission rules, too, but he didn't care. As he'd been leaving Kakashi'd whispered a promise into his ear as an incentive to make sure he came back whole and strong.

_That night will be our night._ He'd whispered, his breath hot and ticklish in Naruto's ear. _I'll take you to that place you've been so desperately wanting to go to._ He'd said, and damn, if Naruto hadn't felt his cock stirring in response to the wanton promise wrapped up in that gorgeous tenor voice. _I'll take you like you've been wanting me to, baby. But you've got to come back alive._

_Promise me._

That was a promise that was easy to keep, what with Naruto's whole system buzzing and bubbling with sexual need. He'd been so wired to his senses that the whole mission had been surreal. Nothing he couldn't hear, smell, or see; driven to succeed on this mission with every part of him wired to completing his goal. He'd had a hard time containing his glee when he'd finished that mission goal so quickly, and had turned tail back to Konoha as quickly as his Kyuubi-powered legs could carry him.

But now he was tired. The door behind him was basically holding him up, and fatigue was aching in every bone of his body. Yawning, he let his eyes close, following his love with the wee bit of Sage energy he'd let loose, tinting the irises behind his closed, reddened lids yellow. Guiding Kakashi to him in this manner was only going to make him more exhausted, but it was worth it just to see him that much sooner.

Naruto felt his lover's chakra stroke tenderly against his body before he heard his quiet scratch at the door. Age hadn't made Kakashi any less stealthy or silent, for as good as his senses were, he hadn't heard anything outside of the room to tip him off that the other man had arrived. But the door knob was turning, and Naruto pounced, catching that door as it opened and quickly pulling the tall, lean form of his beloved jounin inside.

"Kakashi." He breathed, winding himself around the man as strong, blessedly familiar arms pulled him close. Giving in, he nestled into that reassuring warmth, his nose pressed to the line of his love's covered throat before Kakashi tipped down to him, and those bared lips were caressing his own.

"Welcome home, baby." Kakashi whispered into that clinging mouth. Turning his lover in his arms, he pinned Naruto back against the door, feeling the rush of heat slide through him at that intimate contact. One strong thigh hooked around the back of his thigh, and he looked down into those striking blue eyes as the teen's body arched eagerly against his own.

"You look so tired." Kakashi smoothed a thumb tenderly under one of those heavy-lidded eyes, tracing the dark circle under there before leaning down once again to place soft kisses over a high cheekbone. "When I had you make that promise, you weren't supposed to put yourself in danger by hurrying back."

Nipping lightly at the tip of that pert little nose, he went lower, catching a full bottom lip between his teeth just to tease, grunting as Naruto's other leg came up to join the first, those strong limbs twining together around his waist. It really did bring their bodies perfectly in line, the firm, round behind of his lover seated right over his groin, and the jounin groaned softly as the teen deliberately rolled his hips to make that friction even more delicious. "I missed you, my beautiful love." He whispered tenderly, taking that mouth once more with his own. There was nothing like the taste of his Naruto- no other lover he'd ever had had lit his heart on fire like this one, infuriating blond and his stubborn, determination to love.

Inhaling, the silver-haired man took in the scent of his love, the sweat and dirt, and the deeper, muskier smell of a body that hadn't been washed in several days. He laughed softly. "You stink." A muffled protest greeted his words, but Naruto didn't leave off what he'd started to do, licking the now-bared line of his neck, and Kakashi spat out an _**'ow'**_ as sharp teeth fastened onto his ear. "What was that for?"

"You said that I stink." Naruto replied, and the jounin could actually _hear_ the pout that had doubtless appeared on that beautiful, scarred face.

Another nip to his ear had him sliding his hands down to cup a taut bottom, bringing them even closer, and this time it was Kakashi's turn to grind himself into the heat he found between those spread thighs. "Maaa," he groaned, loving the feeling of that. "What's this I've found here?"

A low, sensual growl was the only reply, and then Naruto used the door to push off, twisting them as they moved so that Kakashi ended up thumping against the big wooden desk that dominated the room, his butt planted firmly on the edge of it as Naruto straddled him.

"Same thing I found here." The younger man teased, sneaking a hand down between them to cup the stirring hardness in Kakashi's pants, stroking at it with his fingertips, cooing as it grew larger and strained the confines of that dark blue garment. "I feel like it's been forever since I tasted you." Naruto breathed, gazing into that one grey eye, letting Kakashi see just how much he wanted him. "I just want to taste you again." A pink tongue darted over his lower lip, his gaze drifting downwards between them with a single goal in mind.

Kakashi groaned as his love slid down off of his body, that compact frame rubbing against him all the way down. He caught sight of the teasing glint in those blue eyes before they disappeared below his midsection, and then eager hands were tickling up under his vest and shirt, tugging it free of his pants, and the waistband of those pants were deftly and quickly undone.

_"Touch me, 'Kashi, I want to feel your hands on me."_

_ "It's too soon, Naru…wait a bit longer."_

_ "No, now…I want you…"_

_ "Later, love, later…"_

The puff of heated breath over him nearly undid Kakashi right there and then, and he rolled his hips at the first ghosting brush of hot lips on his sensitive flesh. His love was good at this, the sweet suction of that mouth and the stroke of warm hands over his exposed skin making sweat form on his forehead under his hitai-ate, and seep down over his temples. This, too, was another way in which his student would surpass him, for the sheer enthusiasm of that mouth felt like Naruto would draw the very essence of him right out through his cock.

A moan trembled through him as his hips twitched and jerked, and with another deep groan, his head tipped back, Kakashi's neck no longer strong enough to bear it up under the onslaught of pleasure sparking through him. Opening bleary, lust-hazy eyes, he stared up at the ceiling, letting his love control his body completely, for there was no one he could trust with it other than this golden-skinned teen. They'd claimed each other, so they had, and as far as he was concerned, Naruto was the only one he'd ever need. "Fuck, baby." He murmured, his head lolling on his neck as sharp little canines nipped at a flared tip. The prickle of pain went through him, but it only spiced his pleasure more, for what Shinobi didn't know pain as an old friend? And he thrust a little deeper into that wet heat, his eye fixed senselessly on the bookshelf on the wall as he felt Naruto's hands curl around the back of his thighs.

But, as he stared at the wall closest to him, dancing on that razor edge and ready to spill, the titles of those books pierced through his sex-crazed brain and a very uncomfortable feeling began to override the pleasure firing in his nerves. "Um, Naruto, baby…?"

_The Instruments of Torture; Interrogating Your Prey; Victims & Victimology; Inside the Sheltered Mind._

His one grey eye scanned the titles again, his sexually misfiring brain not quite believing what he'd just read. "Nar…u…to?" He tried again, his hands finally descending to that bobbing head, long fingers threading through sweaty blond hair to stop that erotic slide. "Naru…listen to me." That was his team leader voice, the one he used when he was demanding absolute obedience from his subordinates and he released a relieved sigh when that mouth stopped moving and he was released, resentful blue, questioning eyes staring up at him, a curl of dissatisfaction on those swollen, glistening lips.

Kakashi had to swallow a deep moan of desire at that enticing sight, but the issue at hand was far more important than him getting off in that sinful mouth, no matter what his body was shouting. "Naru, baby, was there a reason you picked this office over any of the others?" There must have been some specific reason, he figured, for he didn't think anyone would deliberately want to have a tryst here.

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto flicked out his tongue, licking the salty-sweet tip of his love's shaft, liking the way it twitched in his hands. He just wanted to get back to what he'd been doing and take that heated length back into his hungering mouth. "The guy was leaving…the door was open." He shrugged again as if it was all self-explanatory.

_The guy…_The groan that left Kakashi's mouth this time had nothing to do with pleasure, and the fingers still wound into that blond hair tightened, forcing Naruto back and away from him as he began to tuck himself away, his body immediately and completely losing interest in sex. "Maa, Naruto," he said as he ignored his love' protest and stood, reaching down to draw the smaller, compactly muscled body up to him to kiss him into silence. "Did that 'guy' happen to resemble the one that proctored the first stage of your Chuunin Exam?" He could almost hear the wheels turning in that golden head as it tilted to the side and his love thought about the question, those brilliant eyes half-closed.

"Ehhh, yeah, maybe…" Those sky eyes stared at him, and recognition dawned there, and fear, and Kakashi drew him close and gave him a hug of reassurance.

"There's only one man in Konoha that wears his headband like that, Naruto." He said, the laugh breathless with resignation when it came. _You'll never stop getting me in trouble, will you, love?_ "And wears a long coat the way he does."

"Ibiki-san." Naruto gasped the name, and immediately turned for the door, his sexual conquest forgotten as the righteous fear of a dangerous man filled him, and he grabbed at his jounin's hand to drag him along with him. "Oi, Kakashi! Let's get out of here!"

With a short laugh, Kakashi dragged him back, a single finger to his lips _soft, swollen, kissable lips_ silencing the anxious protests as he gave him the Shinobi hand symbol for 'wait'. With quick motions he wrote his comrade a note, signing it with his henohenomoheji so that Morino would know that it actually came from him, and then he whirled his love into his arms and shunshinned away, the pile of leaves he left behind him more than enough corroborating evidence that Kakashi Hatake had indeed, been there. What the head of T & I would think when he returned to his office and found a note that said '_Sorry, a little fox pulled me in here.'_, was anybody's guess, but at least he'd know why the room had been tainted with chakra that shouldn't be there, and why it smelled faintly of sex.

_"Ohhh, Kashi…that feels…."_

_ "Tell me if it's too much for you."_

_ "There, please…"_

_ "Such beautiful skin, my Naru…"_

They came out in an alley near Ichiraku's, and Kakashi looked down at his love and began to laugh. "Next time you'll look first, ne?" He chuckled, taking in the slight pout on that tempting mouth.

"Aww, Kakashi!" Naruto whined, smacking the older man, frowning his displeasure, completely over the scare he'd just had and focusing on the sex that he hadn't. "I could have just taken us to the apartment, I have a tagged kunai there you know." They would have been that much closer to the bed that was looming large in his mind, and the fulfillment of that promise that they'd made to each other.

"I know." The way that single eye curved up sent Naruto's suspicious mind whirling, so he glared up at the jounin, waiting for the other bit that was sure to follow. "So I brought you here for…" And his love leaned in, wanting to whisper the last few words just for him. "Your other favourite, salty treat."

"Pervert." Naruto smacked him again, getting right up into that smirking face and glaring at him balefully. "You promised…"

"Aa." Kakashi grinned, poking at his blond, before shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "But you are hungry, ne?" He knew that the younger man must be starving. To have pushed himself that hard and accomplished the mission in such a short time meant that he'd used reserves of chakra that only he was blessed enough to have, and that meant he needed some food to help him replenish it. "Food first, Naruto, then shower, _then_ bed."

For a moment Naruto was tempted to rebel. To just take off home and leave his love standing here all alone on this side street as a punishment for denying him his reward. But, the hollow ache in his stomach-_that he'd already tried to fill, mind you_-really did beg for some food. "All right." He conceded, lifting those blue eyes back up to Kakashi, knowing what the sight of them all wide and pleading did to his lover. "As long as it ends with bed, we'll do it your way." He didn't quite like the satisfied smile that flitted over those well-shaped lips, but the gentle slide of long, slim fingers over his face did ease Naruto's heart a lot. As did the warm loving kiss he received for his agreement.

With a nod, Kakashi set off, only to be hauled back by a quick, tanned hand, his blond staring up at him, an angry scowl on his face.

"Hey!" Naruto growled. "You're forgetting something."

A single, silver eyebrow arched questioningly as the jounin smiled bemusedly at his love. About to speak, Kakashi was silenced when dirt-stained fingers came up to tug his mask back up over his face, covering his features and smoothing it precisely beneath the slanted hitai-ate over his left eye. A hand hooked into his vest and pulled him down, and Naruto pressed a kiss to his mouth through the fabric of his mask. "That belongs to me." His littler love told him in no uncertain terms. "No one get to see that except me."

Struck by the possessive nature of the claim, and by the fact that he hadn't even realized that his mask was down, Kakashi touched a hand to the material covering his face and felt the lingering moisture that Naruto had left there after his kiss, staring with some amazement at a shapely rear as his love strode away from him, heading for the nearby ramen stand. "Maa…" He called after him. "I was distracted."

There was no answer, but a low chortle floated back to him, and the odd lightness that Kakashi felt in his chest made him want to crow aloud, but he followed after Naruto, determined to stay with him until it did, indeed, end with a bed.

The ramen stand-well, it had been rebuilt to more of a small restaurant than just a stand-was very well-lit after their sojourn in the office and the alleyway, and he had to blink a few times in order to locate his love. An amused grunt escaped him as he found him…_should've known he'd be there, _right up against the bar, Teuchi-san already setting a bowl of his favourite in front of him. Beside him, a steaming bowl of miso ramen with extra eggplant awaited him, and as Kakashi wended his way through the suppertime crowd he nodded to the ones that he knew, before seating himself on the stool at his lover's side. Behind him the chatter dimmed and his name and Naruto's washed around the interior of the restaurant before it ebbed away, the small scandal of their relationship becoming flotsam in the face of the ever-renewing tide of Konoha gossip. They didn't cause so much of a stir anymore-the famous Sharingan no Kakashi and his Hokage-in-training, hero-of-the-war lover-not so much as they had at the beginning, anyways. "Ne, Naruto," Kakashi leaned into the smaller man, admiring his form as he slurped up those delicious noodles. "We're not the headline news of the week anymore, whatever will we do?"

"Ehhh…" Naruto drawled, drinking down the last of the broth in his bowl. "You know something will happen and we'll go right back to the top again." The smile he gave Kakashi was provocative, promising many naughty little things, so the jounin wasn't all that surprised when a hand slid down over his back and thoroughly groped his ass for all to see. What did surprise him was the accurately thrown spoon that _clunked_ off of that blond head, pitching Naruto forward a bit, and the comically-outraged voice that filled the small confines of the restaurant.

"**Save it for the bedroom, Naruto-baka!**" The sound of their teammate's voice brought both heads around, and Kakashi eye-smiled at Sakura, giving her and Sai a single tip of his hand to say 'hello' to the newly-seated couple.

"Awww, Sakura." Naruto whined, a hand pressed to his throbbing head. "Don't be like that."

"Then you keep those wandering hands of yours under control. I, for one, have no desire to see you feeling up our team leader!" The green-eyed girl snapped back her reply, a half-grin on her face as one hand curled into a threatening, playful fist. There were a few murmurs of agreement from some of the patrons in Ichiraku's, but some of the younger women, and not a few men, were definitely on the other side, quietly cheering on more ass-groping action. A steady glare, and a not-insignificant amount of KI from the Hokage's apprentice made those voices fall silent.

"You've been a wet blanket ever since you started going out with Sai, Sakura. He's having a bad influence on you, I tell you." The blond pointed a dramatic finger at his teammate, half-rising from his stool. "His emotional constipation is contagious, dattebayo!"

The Ki rose another notch, and Kakashi swore that he could hear the creaking of the bones in Sakura's hand as she clenched her fist tighter. "Mah, Naruto." He interjected, reaching out to grab his impulsive love and draw him back down to his stool. "We can't keep our promise to each other in a hospital bed."

There was a moment of silence, and those blue eyes flickered at him, naughty thoughts shimmering and roiling in those cerulean depths. Instantly the silver-haired man knew what the former expert-prankster was thinking, and he fixed him with a stony, discouraging glare. "No." He said. "Absolutely not! No hospital beds."

A pout appeared on that sinful mouth that had a different kind of hunger stirring in the jounin's gut, but he resisted it, giving Naruto a quelling frown.

"Yes, dickless…" Sai's soft teasing voice travelled the length of the small building, stirring up a pot that Kakashi was hoping was off of the heat. "Listen to the man who has so much more…_experience_ than you do."

"All right, that's it!" Perhaps it was the way he'd pushed himself to get his mission done, or the interrupted fun he'd been having in the tower, but Naruto found himself a little closer to the edge than he usually was, and the undeserved anger that rose in him at Sai's regular teasing made him see red. Rising from his stool, he gathered chakra on his feet, intending to jump forward and pummel his dark-haired teammate a bit, but a strong hand caught his wrist and drew him back into Kakashi's lap.

"Naruto." The jounin's tenor was soft but commanding, and the teen froze in place, his blue eyes blinking hard, the heat of his anger still coiling within him. Breathing out, the blond just let go of the unwarranted emotion, his body easing back into Kakashi's open arms. "Sorry." He mumbled, settling into the comfort of that familiar embrace, tipping his head back to nestle it under a masked chin. Small murmurs of appreciation at the sight of the two of them went through the restaurant, along with one little _squeee_, and Naruto was suddenly overcome by the want to be alone and he was just about to say something to his love when Kakashi breathed harshly into his ear.

"Let's get out of here, Naru." Spinning around with his love in his arms, Kakashi flicked the money for their meal from between his fingers, the coins rolling across the counter to settle in perfect rows beside the register. He was about to shunshin again, when the unmistakeable shimmer of the Hiraishin began to form around them, and he looked down at Naruto just in time to see those brilliant blue eyes looking back into his own-slim, dirt-stained hands forming the signs for their rapid escape from the restaurant. He gave his love a nod, and the people and the walls and the scent of ramen were just gone, and they were quite suddenly sitting on the floor in the quiet confines of the apartment they shared together, that round, firm behind still nestled on Kakashi's lap.

All of the tension went out of Naruto as the peaceful silence of this familiar place surrounded him. He realized that this was what he'd needed, just this place, and the feeling of Kakashi's lean, long-limbed body against his.

"Maybe we should just have come right here." The soft tenor spoke in his ear, echoing his thoughts perfectly, and the blond _hmm_'d in agreement as he closed his eyes, tipping his head back to rest more perfectly in his lover's arms. The gentle, nipping kisses that traced the rim of his ear only made Naruto more content, and he could feel all of the stress of the day slipping slowly away as his love made slow progress down to the exposed veins on the side of his neck, sucking a wet hickey there that Kurama would leave in deference to the relationship the scheming fox very much approved of.

"I'll have to wear a high collar to cover that up tomorrow." He murmured, a prideful grin curling up the corners of his lips.

"Or, flaunt it for everyone to see, ne?" Kakashi returned, peering into that tired, grimy face with an affectionate leer. Not that the younger man could see it, mind you, for his dark-ringed eyes had already drifted shut. For a moment, the jounin just gazed at his love, one grey eye roving over his beloved's face, from the sweat-greased golden hair to the slightly chapped lips that he so loved to kiss. _This beautiful man was his._ The thought filled his heart with glee as it usually did…especially when he woke up in the middle of the night to think it…and he gathered Naruto a little closer to him, relishing the heat of his body. "I think we should move this to the shower, don't you?"

"Too tired." Naruto teased, not opening his eyes, but he did feel the way his jounin stiffened a bit behind him before a dry chuckle shook them both.

"Okay, then." Kakashi murmured, his warm breath tickling against the curve of a golden-hued ear. Releasing his hold on that compact frame, nimble fingers deftly began to undo zippers and buckles, removing the jounin uniform that the younger man wore, with an adroitness that spoke of a long-time expertise. "Raise your arms, love." He requested softly as he came to the long-sleeved orange and blue jersey the blond wore under his jounin vest. When he did so, Kakashi wasted no time stripping it off over his head, revealing all of that tawny, tempting skin underneath.

Pausing a moment to admire the smooth planes and curves of Naruto's nicely muscled body, he took special notice of pink, pebbled nipples that just begged to be caressed. Gliding his hands up over stomach and ribs, he swirled rough fingertips over soft skin just to see the goosebumps rise in his wake. Reaching those puckered buds, he rubbed his hands over them, teasing ever so lightly, plucking and pinching, and drinking in how Naruto's breath caught, hitched, and came out in a low, gasping moan that tickled at Kakashi's ears. "Not so tired, hmm?" He whispered, nuzzling his nose against the dark mark he'd sucked into his lover's neck. Flicking his thumbs over those reddening buds, he licked the angle of the other's jaw, all the way to the corner of those slightly salty lips. "Look at how awake these are."

"That's not the only thing that's waking up." Naruto murmured back, arching himself into the warmth of the man pressed all along his back.

"Ohh? That sounds promising." Kakashi cooed his response to the long line of his lover's collarbone, leaving a row of tiny red bites in his wake. He made his way slowly towards the strong bulge of a shoulder, his fingers still relentlessly working those perky little nipples. "Anything in particular I can do to help that along?"

The groan that left Naruto's mouth was wanton and low, vibrating through both of their bodies. "Just keep doing what you're doing, Kashi, and it'll take care of itself."

Kakashi's chuckle was carnal, and he left off those taut nubs just to slide his hands lower over a flat abdomen and unfasten Naruto's pants. Long, slim fingers dipped inside and stroked over the heated bulge within, teasing that length. The jounin's own blood heated as the nubile body seated in his lap ground himself into his hand, that round ass providing a lovely friction for his own swelling shaft as Naruto gyrated so sensually. "You're so sexy."

"And you're fucking sexy." Naruto moaned back, tipping his head back to roll blue eyes like melting sapphires up to look at him, his kiss-swollen lips just begging to be kissed some more.

"Aaa…" Kakashi groaned in response, his breath catching as his love latched onto the edge of his jaw with his teeth and bit down playfully. "Then we're in good company, aren't we?" He gave into the temptation of that mouth, lowering to capture it and delve deeply into the sweetness he found there. The taste of Naruto's mouth was so addictive, that from their very first kiss he'd hungered to go back for more. Time, and ease of access hadn't changed that at all, and now the jounin wanted that delicious taste at every opportunity, and since his beloved was here in his arms offering…Breaking barely long enough to breathe, he dived back in, sliding his tongue over Naruto's eager one, tangling and dancing and sucking delicately on the tip.

The erotic little noises that got him made Kakashi move his hand a little harder over the twitching length he was stroking inside Naruto's pants. The slim hips rose wantonly in response to his touch, and he couldn't help but direct a wanting eye towards that erotic sight. A gasp left him as their lips parted and his lover bucked up into his hand, begging for more. "Perhaps we should take this to the bathroom, yes?" He asked again softly, sliding out from under his love's back to kneel beside him, his calloused palm still stroking hotly over that twitching cock. "Before we take this any further?"

Bending over that tantalizing body, Kakashi indulged in another deep, sweet kiss before he levered himself easily to his feet, standing over Naruto's breathless, supine form to begin stripping off his own clothes as well. Undoing the jounin vest, he draped it over a nearby chair before tugging off shirt and singlet, pulling of his mask and hitae-ate all in one motion as he did so. He watched those blue eyes dilate to a midnight hue as they stared up at him, and Kakashi offered his lover a smirking grin. "Like what you see?" Running his palms over his own body, he plucked at his nipples for his love's entertainment and then dropped his fingers to the drawstring fastening of his pants, running the cords between those digits suggestively. Kakashi deliberately canted his hips, drawing Naruto's lusting eyes to the way the dark blue fabric of his pants was pulled tightly over the bulge at his groin.

"You're going to have to get up in order to see the rest of it."

The groan that rose up from those sweet lips made little sparks cascade through Kakashi's belly, but he didn't give in to the want to just throw himself back on top of all of that tempting golden skin. Instead he deliberately stepped over Naruto and walked a few steps before bending over to undo the bindings on his legs, giving those lust-blown blue eyes a rather excellent view of his ass as he did so. When he was done, he cast another glance over his shoulder and winked, loosening the ties on his pants just enough that they sagged around his narrow hips. "Are you sure you don't see anything you like?" He teased, letting go of his pants entirely so that they dropped to pool around his ankles. Kakashi's single grey eye roved over the length of Naruto's half-naked body, heat shooting through his blood as he watched that form rise and fall as if he were caressing him with his gaze. "I know that I do."

Naruto's breath hitched within him as he watched the rhythmic rise and fall of his lover's tight, perfect ass and, tired as he was, the urge to get up and follow all of that naked, tempting flesh into the bathroom was just too much for him to ignore. Kakashi's body was perfection. The gorgeous carving of the jounin's form like a study in male beauty, for there wasn't a flaw in all of that Tai-jutsu-formed musculature. His silver-haired lover may not be as big as Gai-sensei, or as strongly-built as the Pervy Sage had been, but to Naruto's eyes, there wasn't anyone more beautiful or more alluring than the man that he loved. And, when he managed to lever himself up from the floor and shuck the rest of his own clothes, he followed Kakashi into the bathroom, to make completely sure that the man knew that.

Inside the bathroom fragrant steam had already filled the air, and Naruto drew in a heady breath of it as he stepped through the door. His lover stood under the shower, that head of thick hair already sodden with water, the silver strands hanging about that beautiful face in the sexiest of ways. He felt his heart clench at the sight, and a warmth spread through him that only had to do with how lucky he'd begun to feel ever since he and Kakashi had admitted to their love for each other. As wonderful as he'd thought his life had become after the defeat of Madara and the destruction of that madman's terrible plans, having his lover in his life had only made it better.

And no one-_no one_-could have brought him back after the heart-rendering disappointment of Sasuke's death, except the man now giving him such a wanton glance from under that wet, silver hair. So, it was easy for Naruto to let go of his dark memories and go to join him.

"Come here, Naru." Kakashi urged softly, holding out a hand to beckon his love to him. "Let me take care of you." There was a flash of pain in those blue eyes…of memories and of evil times…but as he drew his blond under the water he could see that darkness fade, and the light of love that made those blue eyes sparkle begin to come back.

Slowly, gently, he washed him, gliding the soapy sponge over that taut, tight flesh, until Naruto leaned into him with every stroke, cerulean eyes half-closed as the pleasure that Kakashi was tenderly kindling in him brought that enticing shaft back to full life. He stroked that too, the easy glide of soap and sponge over that turgid flesh bringing soft, sweet moans from between kiss-swollen lips. "Are you too tired, baby?" Pressing a kiss to Naruto's forehead, a concerned grey eye looked into that fatigue-shadowed face. There was no reason they had to do this tonight. No reason it couldn't wait until the younger man had recovered his strength and his chakra.

"_Mmmm…no…_" To his own ears his voice was slow and slurred, as if he'd been drugged by the pleasure the cleansing of his body had stirred in his system. Naruto could feel the exhaustion inside of him, but he reached for some of Kurama's chakra and coaxed it from the fox, rolling his eyes as the demon mocked him a little for what he needed it for.

'_Just shut up and give it to me already.' _Naruto answered back, giving the demon a smirk. '_You know you're going to enjoy it, too.'_

Since he'd learned to get along with the demon within him he'd discovered that they shared many things in common, not the least of which was their mutual hunger for Kakashi's touch. Far from denigrating the carnal desires of his host, the Kyuubi had instead learned 'appreciate' it, and so a slight tinge of red chakra surged into him, turning his own blue a hint purple and he grinned as the swell of energy filled him. Naruto ground into Kakashi's caressing hand, his hips rocking back and forth. "I'm feeling a little stronger now." Exchanging a smirk with his lover, he slid his hand down to place it over that pale one stroking him, encouraging a faster pace as their fingers twined together.

"I can see that, baby." Kakashi murmured, sliding his other hand around to caress wet fingertips over that part of his lover's body that would provide him with so much more pleasure. "Then I'll have to step this up a little."

Turning his love in his arms, he pressed Naruto to the tile wall, reaching out to take a little bottle of oil from the shelf inside the shower. They'd played here many times, touching and licking, learning each other's bodies, and so there was no shyness or hesitation in the way those strong legs spread for his slick fingers, or in the way Naruto eagerly arched backwards to welcome them inside.

Soft moans fell from between his lips as Naruto rested his forehead against the tile, the erotic push of those slim, calloused fingers into his body sending bright sparks of need cascading through his nerves. He was used to this sensation. Used to being caressed just there where he throbbed and ached, so he pushed back to meet each thrust, almost mewling with the growing pleasure. Seven weeks…seven weeks they'd been dating and getting to know each other. Three weeks since he'd practically moved in with the man and they'd begun sleeping together regularly. And one week…only one week…since Kakashi had first told him they were ready to take this final step together.

The days that had passed since that wicked promise, though, those had been the best and the worst of loving Kakashi.

And now he was waiting, aroused and ready, with the press of his lover's hot, twitching cock against his thigh, and the slide of stretching fingers within him, and all he could focus on was the anticipation of what it would feel like to have so much more driving into him than just those teasing fingers. _What it would be like to be stretched around that hard shaft pulsing so warmly against his thigh._ Blood was racing through him, pounding in his ears, his breath blowing back into his face as he panted, so close to whining that he had to bite his lips to keep it in. The urgent need for _more_ escalated as a soft palm closed around his aching cock and began a firm, determined stroke that matched the rub of rough fingertips over that place inside of him.

Finally Naruto couldn't take anymore and he did whine then, the long drawl of Kakashi's name a plea for mercy and for something else. "_Please…please…"_ He whimpered, shivers threading under his skin in spite of the warm water falling onto him. "_Ohhh, Kami, 'Kashi…__**pleeease…**__"_

An erotic fever rose in Kakashi's blood, answering the plea in his lover's voice. He had to respond to that need…had to give Naruto what he was so wantonly begging for. This was what he'd promised him after all, this _beginning_ of the most carnal phase of their relationship, and the breeching of the last physical aspect of their love-making. "Yes, yes…" He murmured, shifting sideways to slide his aching cock between those tender thighs, rutting there for a moment over the silky skin of that tender sac. His movement there made his love call out again, pushing back against him with that full, round ass butting into his hip bones with a silent, insistent beckoning.

"Oh, yes, Naru…Yes, _I'm here…"_

Releasing his hold on that jutting, leaking shaft, Kakashi held tightly to his love's hips, holding him still as he moved again, pressing just his tip to that slick, stretched opening. He drank in the sounds of his Naru's hiccupped cries as the teen felt him, and the way that beautifully muscled body tightened and flexed in front of him as he responded to the gentle push. "Relax." Kakashi whispered, his silky tenor raspy with the need growing within him. "Relax and push out for me, just as I've taught you."

Leaning forward, he covered his love's back with kisses, nipping and licking over the taut muscles until they quivered and eased under his lips. Slowly, slowly, he rocked and pressed, easing forward until those first tight rings gave away, and the strangled cry that escaped the both of them as that first inch was taken inside was nothing but a wanton chorus. "_Ahhh_, lover…you're so tight." Kakashi clung to Naruto, needing to keep him close as they were finally joined, holding onto him desperately until he was fully seated within that slick, glorious heat. With his arms wrapped around that golden form, he could feel the tremors and shudders that wracked it, and he was intimately aware the very moment that his love found the easing that he needed to continue and so he pulled himself back gently to the very tip again before sliding back in.

"K-kashi…" Naruto stuttered when he was filled once more, the ecstatic trembling in his stomach going straight out to his fingers and toes. It felt so strange and yet so good to be stretched and opened up in this very deep way. So much more than what those long, slim fingers could do and, far more than what he'd ever fantasized it could be. The heat of his lover's body all along his back was a reassurance as he began to adjust, and the clutch of his lover's hands at his hips held him and cherished him as sparking heat spiralled through his blood and set his nerves on fire. "_Oh, Kami! Kami!"_ He cried out, finding an unconscious rhythm that had him pressing back into every thrust. It was good, _so good, _he couldn't even begin to think about anything other than how his sensitive flesh parted before the drive of his lover's cock.

Pleasure, boiling and thick spread through him, and he scrabbled his fingers against the wet tile seeking purchase as their love-making got more frantic and more ardent. Pushing, pressing, he wanted more of Kakashi inside of him, a keening wail echoing about them as a blunt, scraping tip found that place that brought white sparks to Naruto's vision. "_Fuck, yeah…" _He cried out. "_There, 'Kashi, there!"_ And was rewarded with a harder thrust, his lover forcing him up onto his toes as that hard cock slid over that aching place inside of him each time.

The bliss that was spiralling up through Kakashi let him know that he wasn't going to last much longer, the tightening of his own balls between his thighs announcing the imminent peak that was drawing at all of the nerves in his body. Wanting desperately for Naruto to join him, to hear that sweet, raspy voice crying out in helpless pleasure, he slid his hand around a heaving belly and grasped again at his lover's curving, twitching shaft. Taking a firm grip, he jerked his love off, timing his deeper, faster thrusts for each swirl of his palm over him. When his sweet blond gasped and shuddered, he rubbed his thumb just over that leaking tip, plundering just against that spot and was rewarded by velvety muscles clamping down on him so hard an inarticulate cry of ecstasy was ripped from Kakashi's lips as well.

Down and down they went, the intensity of their pleasure drawing them both into the deep abyss of carnal abandonment, before the utterly explosive power of their peaks flashed through them…white light taking them and shaking them both like they were leaves lost in a raging wind. Such ferocious pleasure roared through him, that it was all the silver-haired jounin could do to keep himself seated inside of his love's body as that slick, hot passage clenched and clutched and worked around his shaft so hard each word from his lips was a curse of desire. Grinding his cock in as deeply as he could, Kakashi released himself there, sending his seed high and far, claiming this body and this man as his own, never to belong to anyone else.

"Mine." He moaned, his hands sliding up to curl around Naruto's body, rutting helplessly into that even slicker heat, unable to stop his hips restless, jerking motion. 'Oh, _fuck,_ Naruto…you're mine, mine, _mine_…"

Kakashi's words were like heat and need poured into Naruto's ears and he scrabbled with sharp-pointed fingers at the tiles he was pressed against, seeking some kind of hold on the reality he was sinking back to after that shattering bliss. He was aware of his lover still rocking gently within him, and the soft, keening murmur of that sexy, tenor voice as the other man wrapped himself around him and held him tight. It was what he'd needed, that care and comfort after losing himself so completely, and he could tell by the almost plaintive tone in Kakashi's voice that it was what he needed, too.

A strangled sob of pleasure escaped Naruto as his lover moved over that hyper-sensitive place inside of him, that slowly softening shaft sliding in and out as his love's hips erratically jolted. He felt Kakashi stiffen at his sob, and the long, strong fingers spread over his body clutched at him before he heard the man's deep, almost longing, sigh. "I'm sorry, baby." That warm, loving voice spoke low in his ear. "I'm hurting you."

Naruto sensed more than felt that Kakashi was about to pull out of his body and he whined at the mere thought of loosing that fullness that was so wonderful inside of him. Reaching back quickly with one hand, he cupped it over one of those taut, flexing cheeks and held Kakashi to him. "N-no…" He stuttered, trying to speak over the rush of blood that was still so loud in his ears. "N-no…just stay there…I n-need you."

The dry chuckle those words earned him vibrated in both of their bodies through their intimate joining, and Naruto finally opened his eyes to stare at the subtle patterning in the white tile so close to his face. He'd never dreamed that making love like that could be so intense. That he could lose himself so much in the pleasure of it that he didn't care if he ever came back.

_But…_He pondered. _If he never came back, how could he ever do that again?_

The sated weariness that rolled over him then, made him want to sag into the warmth of Kakashi's embrace and just curl up and sleep, remembering in the aftermath of his peak just how tired he truly was. The next shudder that travelled through him then was more of a reflection of his extreme fatigue, and he felt the water shut off as Kakashi moved away from him and he wondered just when during all of that his lover had pulled out of his body. Suddenly the warm weight of a soft towel was wrapped around him and quick, gentle hands were drying him off, each movement of his love around him accompanied by little kisses and quiet murmurs of affection that eased him even more towards sleep.

Naruto yawned as the towel dropped away from him, his blue eyes seeking out and blearily holding that single one of adoring grey. "That was…" There was no combination of words that he could think of to describe what he was feeling. Even the ache that was dancing around his bum and his lower back was too sensual for him to whine about. Instead, he fell towards Kakashi and giggled softly as those strong arms caught him, a sigh of pure relief rolling out of him as he was lifted and carried away, his lover holding him to his body just as one would a beloved child.

"I've got you, love." Kakashi whispered lightly, pressing a kiss to the slim column of Naruto's neck as he carried him to their bed. There was no need for clothes between them anymore, so he settled his lover onto the sheets with tender care, bestowing a kiss of deep affection to those tempting lips. Already he could see that those blue eyes were tightly closed…that Naruto had finally given in to the exhaustion he'd been fighting ever since coming back...the extra chakra he'd wheedled from Kurama well and truly used up, just as the youth was well and truly gone to sleep. Smoothing a hand over that mass of damp, golden hair, he just looked down at his love for a long moment before rousing himself enough to go about the room and turn off the lights and make sure the doors were locked and the protective jutsus he employed activated, before returning to the bed to crawl in beside his lover.

"Goodnight, baby." He said softly, rolling in beside that golden form, and tugging a sheet and blanket over them both. The slowly rising surge of warmth through his body was taking him to sleep, too, and a happy moan left him when Naruto rolled instinctively into his body and molded himself to him, skin-to-skin. _How could it get any better than this?_ A smile touched Kakashi's lips as he surrendered his thoughts to that gentle tide, taking Naruto into his arms where he belonged. Where they both truly belonged, after trials and war and stubborn stupidity, and the joyful discovery of love.

_Together._

**Please review. Reviews really do feed my muse and make my fingers want to write more. Thanks so much!**

**And check out the story I'm co-writing with Deathwish, "The White Rose". We're pretty proud of that one. The relationship between Kakashi and Naruto is moving a bit **_slower_** in that one, though. *laughs***


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